This week on CounterSpin: The Supreme Court has OKed full implementation of Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban—despite the fact that its constitutionality is still being challenged in lower courts. Despite the fact that even Department of Homeland Security reports show no relationship between the targeted countries and national security threats. Despite the fact that Trump gives the lie to the White House assertion that the ban isn’t anti-Muslim every time he opens his mouth. With so many facts being spited, you’d hope journalists would step up in defense of the immediately affected people and democratic process. We’ll talk about the Muslim ban with Suman Raghunathan, executive director of SAALT, South Asian Americans Leading Together.

Also on the show: Don Blankenship is the kind of guy who, when the mining company he runs is polluting the local water, will run a private pipeline over to the next town for his own home. And the kind of guy who, having been convicted with conspiring to break mine safety laws, leading to an explosion that killed 29 men, emerges from prison and announces a run for Senate. You might chuckle, but Blankenship’s confident recourse to Big Lie politics—he alleges his conviction was a state conspiracy—stands a better chance with an establishment press corps whose fears of “partisanship” make it hesitate to check lies with adequate force. We have a reminder of Don Blankenship’s record in a 2016 interview on the subject with attorney Bruce Stanley.